1. They are both dictatorships that came to power three decades ago.
2. They are both despised by the majority of their people who want them to go.
3. They both rule a young population that is plagued by unemployment, poverty and general frustration.
4. They both have total control over media and social networking sites and censor and/or ban both.
5. They both accuse their opponents of being foreign agents and traitors against the nation.
6. They both intimidate foreign press and try to stop the truth from getting out to the world.
7. They are both Israel’s wet dream come true.
8. They both (Khamenei and Mubarak) are grooming their sons to be their successor when doing so is against their constitutions.
9. They both use plain clothes thugs to beat, kill and intimidate peaceful demonstrators. In Iran, they do it riding motorcycles, and in Egypt they do it on horseback and camelback.
10. They are both experts at putting together sham elections.
One significant (among others) dissimilarity: the IRI is a million times more brutal than the Mobarak government. And for that, and other reasons that are explained in this blog, it is much more likely to remain in power long after Mobarak’s regime is gone.
